


Old friends, New pains

by LuckyBlueHeart



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Mild Kidnapping, and what better way to be petty than to write platonic gay shit?, im petty cuz everyone writes the wonderland twins as abusers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 15:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13297671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuckyBlueHeart/pseuds/LuckyBlueHeart
Summary: Barry's stressed out. Dying and being reborn over and over isn't exactly a fun way to spend 6 years. So, to de-stress a bit, he decides to go check up on the two liches he left the Animus Bell with...





	Old friends, New pains

**Author's Note:**

> this was written and published at 6am, any mistakes will be fixed eventually, scout's honor  
> EDIT: ok i fixed things i think, please tell me if there's still errors

“Well...they’ve certainly been up to _something_ …”

Barry J. Bluejeans was floating in front of the entrance to...what appeared to be a giant roulette wheel. According to the many, _many_ signs leading him here, this doorway led to something called Wonderland - a seemingly unexplainable dungeon in the Felicity Wilds.

There were many rumors surrounding the place; who had built it, what its purpose was, why it seemed to draw so many adventurers in...

Unfortunately, Barry knew _exactly_ how wrong all of those rumors were.

About 6 years ago, on his hunt to find someone to give his grand relic to, Barry had run into two strange liches: Lydia and Edward. After talking for a bit, he’d determined that these strange twins would be good guardians for the Animus Bell. They were the best at keeping mortals from getting things, they had claimed, and there wasn’t a game they couldn’t win!

And it seemed, by the looks of it, that they’d used the bell’s powers to create just that. A game.

Barry sighed. He had been searching for Lup nonstop ever since the day their memories got stolen...it was exhausting, to say the least. Each death brought him closer to unravelling, and each new body took at least two months to grow.

It was a cruel cycle, but it had to be done.

Frustrated with his most recent failure, he’d decided to take...a break,of sorts. He hadn’t seen hide nor hair of his relic ever since it had left his hands - and while that was a good thing, he liked being able to know just what it was being used for.

_Well,_ he thought to himself, looking up at the towering structure before him, _I guess that answers my question...sort of._

Sighing again, Barry adjusted his spectral red robe, and headed through the doors to Wonderland.

It was pitch black as soon as he entered, and immediately he could feel the immense energy surrounding him. Reaching out a skeletal hand, he felt it - the collective misery of what must be _hundreds_ of adventurers was swirling around him, forming a black fog that was thick enough to cut with a knife. Barry grumbled slightly and continued on.

“Hello?” he called out, quickly getting suspicious of this impenetrable darkness, “Lydia? Edward? Are you two even...stable anymore??” He felt a pang of worry - what if they’d unravelled? What if the Bell was currently being guarded by two powerful, unstable liches?

But before his fears could get to him too badly, a pair of spotlights clicked on in front of him. In their beams he could see them - two identical figures, silhouetted by the lights, standing so close he could barely tell which was which.

And just like that, this misery-filled chamber lit up like a Candlenights bush. Bright neon lights in every color imaginable flicked on and started flashing, matching the beat of loud dance music that was playing from...somewhere.

The pair made their way down a long runway, posing dramatically the whole way down, before coming to a stop at the end on a circular platform.

“There you two are!”

The sudden voice seemed to startle the twins, and they looked down at their guest, more than a bit surprised. They stared for a few seconds, obviously confused, before Edward’s face broke into a wide smile. “Wait...it can’t be…!”

“Barold??” Lydia put a hand to her mouth in surprise, smiling just as widely as her brother, “Gosh, darling, it’s been _years!_ ”

The platform descended to his level, and suddenly the twins were on either side of him, both still grinning at their old acquaintance.

“Don’t get too excited,” Barry said, attempting (and failing) to squirm away from the twins’ grasp, “I’m only here to visit, I wanted to check up on you...make sure the Bell is still safe.”

“Oooh, we just _have_ to know, Barry,” Lydia was gripping his arm, and if he’d had a physical form it definitely would be numb.

“What do you think of the place?” Edward continued, holding on just as tight as his sister, “We worked _very_ hard on it, and we couldn’t have done any of it without your Bell!”

“Well, ah…” Barry looked around at the eyeburning colors covering every wall of the camber they were in. His ears were still ringing from the music from earlier. “It...certainly is something, I’ll give you that…”

The twins giggled in unison, gently tugging their guest over towards a door on the other side of the room. “Come on, we have to give you the tour!”

“Wait! No, no, I can’t stay…” The two elves turned and pouted, but Barry didn’t budge. He had dealt with Taako and Lup for long enough, that sort of thing didn’t work on him.

Lup…

Shaking his head, he pushed the thought away. He could cry about this later.

“I have...stuff I need to do. I’ve got a new body growing in my cave, and while I wait for that I need to research, I have to find her, I…” He stopped talking, noticing the wisps of black smoke coming out of his mouth as he spoke.

Huh.

The twins had an...odd expression on their faces. After sharing a worried glance, Edward cleared his throat. “Barold...now, this is going to sound like a strange question, but...how many times have you died?”

“Uh...I dunno?? A-at least 20 times I think, not counting the-”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Lydia put a finger to his mouth to silence him. “You’ve died, regrown your body, and been re-born _20 times_ over the past 6 years?” There was what sounded like genuine concern in her voice.

Barry bit his tongue. “...Yes, that sounds about right…”

Without hesitation, the Lydia and Edward looked at each other. After about a second of staring, elven ears twitching gently, they nodded, then turned back to face Barry.

With a snap of their fingers, the room around them vanished, only to be replaced by what looked like a cozy house of some sort. “Welcome,” said Edward, smiling warmly, “to the Wonderland backstage!”

“Here, let me help with that,” Lydia coo’ed, putting her hands on his shoulders. In a flurry of black smoke, Barry’s red robe and skeletal form was replaced with his normal human form, wearing a simple shirt and a pair of denim jeans. Lydia smiled, admiring her handiwork. “There, can’t have our house guest looking like death, now can we?”

Barry was stunned, raising a hand - a _flesh hand_ \- to his face, earning affectionate giggles from the twins at his awe. Then he stopped. “Wait. Wait, wait, don’t do this, I’m _not_ gonna get stuck here like this.”

Edward sighed gently. “Barry,” he said, draping an arm around his shoulder, “We’re keeping you here for a few weeks. You need a break.”

“What?!” He pulled away from Edward, backing up a bit, “No, no, I can’t take a break! I have to research, and find information, and-”

“And how are you going to do that if you’re overworked?” Lydia had been waiting behind him, hooking her arm around his neck, “If you keep up like this, you’ll unravel before New Years.”

“I’m not going to unravel!” It was a bit harder to get away from Lydia, but he managed it, sidestepping away from the two. “You don’t understand. I _need_ to find her! She's…” He looked down, tears welling up quickly. “She’s the only thing that matters…”

He didn’t even complain when the twins wrapped their arms around him, hugging him gently. It was the first hug he’d had in 6 years…

“You’re working yourself to the bone, sweetheart,” Edward hummed, rubbing his back gently.

“We’ll keep you here for a few weeks so you can rest, and then we’ll let you get back to work, ok?” Lydia was resting her head on Barry’s shoulder.

Barry whimpered slightly, feeling the urge to cry creep up on him. Maybe they were right...He could stay with them for a little bit, regain his senses a bit…

He pulled the two liches closer, shaking slightly as he fought to keep his voice calm. “Ok, you win, I’ll...I’ll stay. But...only for a few weeks, ok?”

The three of them stayed there, embraced, for what seemed like a long time.

Barry wasn’t sure he wanted them to let go.


End file.
